Page 7: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2000)

Oslo Stock Market

Offshore Climbing Higher In Oslo

Shipping and offshore shares per- formed well in March with an increase in the Shipping Index of 2.3 percent.

The Oslo market as a whole fell 2.2 per- cent, much due to the world-wide price fall for the IT and telecom sector.

Despite the uncertainty about the out- come of the OPEC meeting on March 27 and 28, a number of offshore shares rose significantly during the month.

Even though the oil price fell slightly as a result of the meeting, it is obviously within a price range that is considered as comfortable by investors.

The two share classes in Smedvig (SME and SMEB) were both up about 19 percent in the period, topping the long list of positive performers in the offshore sector. All but five of the listed offshore shares increased their value during March. Polar Holding (POL) and

Det Sondenfjeldske (SFJ) ended at the first two spots on the losers list, as they dropped 7.5 and 6.7 percent respective- ly. Stolt Comex Seaway (SCS) ended up 15.4 percent, Ocean Rig (OCR) was up 13.1 percent, while the two seismic companies Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) and TGS Nopec (TGS) rose 12.6

Winners for the Month

Shipping List Change

Frontline Main + 28.6%

Stolt Nielsen B Main +12.2%

Nordic American Tanker Main + 11.1%

Actinor Shipping Main +10.0%

Bergesen A Main + 9.3%

Offshore List Change

Smedvig A Main +19.6%

Smedvig B Main + 18.8%

Brovig Offshore SMB + 17.8%

Northern Offshore SMB + 15.5%

Stolt Comex Seaway Main + 15.4%

Losers for the Month

Shipping List Change

Royal Caribbean Cruises Main -16.6%

Mosvold Shipping Main - 6.3%

Bonheur Main - 5.1%

NCL Holding Main - 3.0%

Leif Heegh & Co. Main - 2.8%

Offshore List Change

Polar Holding SMB - 7.5%

Det Sondenljeldske Main - 6.7%

Awilco B Main - 2.9%

Navis SMB -2.1%

Awilco Main -0.7% and 2.9 percent.

Shipping shares also experienced a dominance on the winners' side, even though not as strong as in the offshore sector. One of the most heavily traded shipping shares, Frontline (FRO), ended the month up all of 28.6 percent, while

Bergesen (BEA and BEB) rose 9.3 and 6.9 percent respectively in its two share classes.

At the other end, Mosvold Shipping (MSL), Bonheur (BON), Leif Hoegh &

Co. (LHO) and Ganger Rolf (GRO) all fell between six and two percent.

For the second straight month, the two cruise operators slowed the Shipping

Index. Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) lost a solid 16.6 percent while the remaining tradable shares in NCL Hold- ing (NCL) were down a more modest three percent.

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